1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motor vehicle front body structure and more particularly to a vehicle front body structure having a front engine compartment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a motor vehicle body having an engine compartment located forward the passenger compartment, side walls of the engine compartment are constituted by wheel aprons which extend forward from front hinge pillars. The front ends of the wheel aprons are connected to the opposite ends of a transversely extending radiator shroud. The wheel apron is provided at the transversely inner side with a suspension tower for receiving an upper end of a suspension strut assembly. In order to provide the wheel apron with a sufficient strength and rigidity, it has been known to form longitudianlly extending frame structures of closed cross-section along upper and lower portions of the wheel apron. Examples of such front body structure are shown by Japanese utility model application No. 54-14604 which has been filed on Feb. 6, 1979 and disclosed for public inspection on Aug. 13, 1980 under the disclosure No. 55-114772.
In the conventional body structure, the wheel apron and the longitudinal frame structures are connected at the rear ends with a hinge pillar which is also of a structure of closed cross-section. In Japanese utility model application No. 50-173077 filed on Dec. 23, 1975 and disclosed for public inspection on June 25, 1977 under the disclosure No. 52-85215, there is disclosed a hinge pillar structure which includes a substantially planar inner panel and an outer panel of a hat-shaped cross-section welded at the opposite side edges to the inner panel to form a structure of closed cross-section. The hinge pillar includes box-shaped reinforcements located at vertically spaced positions to bridge the space between the inner and outer panels to thereby provide the hinge pillar with an increased lateral rigidity.
In a motor vehicle structure, it is generally desired for the purpose of safety that the front body structure is collapsed progressively from the front end in case of a vehicle crash. In case where the crash energy is not fully absorbed by the collapse of the front body structure, the remaining crash energy is transmitted from the wheel apron to the hinge pillar. Although the hinge pillar structure of the Japanese utility model application No. 50-173077 has reinforcements, it is not satisfactory for the purpose of receiving the longitudinally directed crash energy because the reinforcements are intended to strengthen the hinge pillar only in the lateral direction but are spaced apart from the front and rear walls of the outer panel of the hinge pillar structure.